Crowds play, learn, and win with #BUCPUA at Sustainability Festival

A participant (L) attempts the waste-sorting game led by #BUCPUA Sustainability Planning Association members Monique Yaptenco, Yi Ding, Yunwen Ou, and Alejandro Delgado (L to R).

Student Eleanor Reagan (CAS ’18) contemplated throwing a Panera soup cup into three containers labeled compostable, recyclable or landfill. She eventually decided to throw the cup into the compostable section. Unfortunately this was the wrong choice – Panera cups have wax and go to landfill – and she lost the game. The #BUCPUA Sustainability Planning Association gave her a prize, a succulent plant, and she walked away having learned something new.

On September 15, the Sustainability Planning Association (SPA) of the BU City Planning and Urban Affairs (BUPCUA) program hosted a booth with an interactive waste game and infographics on landfills in the United States. Raymond Teoh (MET’17) explained that the goal was to educate students through games. “Similar to the GSU bins, students get confused. We want to familiarize them with sorting trash, and have them learn about sustainable planning,” he said. The BUCPUA program offers an Applied Sustainability Graduate Certificate along with several courses that address planning issues through the lens of sustainability, including courses in Actionable Sustainability and Environmental Law and Policy. Students in the #BUCPUA Sustainability Planning Association are eager to impart sustainability strategies from their courses in a real-world setting, to include the BU Sustainability Festival.

Ines Boussebaa (L) interviews Sustainability Planning Association members about their sustainability booth and event goals.

By midday, 40 to 50 students had played the game. “Students are doing really well, though there is some confusion with compostable and landfill items,” said Alejandro Delgado (MET ’17). Participants received coupons for free food from b.good, a sustainable fast-food chain that actively supports community development.

The infographics provided extra information for curious students: waste is a major policy problem for cities and regions, and landfillsare a cheap and easy solution. However, they often cause environmental, health and social problems. Teoh stated that it was important for students to know that the amount of trash has increased dramatically over the years, and what they can do to reverse the trend.

Students mentioned some difficulty with recycling and composting around campus. Monique Yaptenco (MET’18) explained that they had been listening to feedback from students and informing them of the options around campus. She added, “as planners, you have to think about how do you plan a city so people don’t have so many obstacles to recycling?” tying her experience at the booth to things learned in class.

Yunwen Ou (L) explains to Danny Pezzano, a #BUCPUA Academic Program Manager, how long it takes for different materials to decompose.

The BU Sustainability Festival hosted a variety of other green organizations, including the Institute for Sustainable Energy, Goodwill, Green Streets Initiative and the Boston Vegetarian Society, so that students could learn about all aspects of sustainability.

– Ines Boussebaa (CAS’16)